


The Plan

by HeddersTheOwl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I suck at writting pranks, edited from previous work, really - Freeform, really bad pranks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-20
Updated: 2013-09-20
Packaged: 2017-12-27 03:52:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/973994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeddersTheOwl/pseuds/HeddersTheOwl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fred enlists Hermione's help for a prank on Umbridge but ends up discovering feelings he never thought existed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Plan

A warm light fell over the parchments of diligently working Gryffindors in the red and gold common room they called home. All was quiet save for the turning of well-worn pages, the scratching of pens and the occasional soft groan as the school prepared for the end of year exams. 

Hermione Granger was sitting alone by the window, checking her answers from a Charms theory test she had completed. Her messy brown hair got stuck in her mouth as she worked and she blew it out absentmindedly, glaring up at a small chuckle coming from the person sat in a squashy armchair opposite her. Fred merely smiled back at her, winking cheekily at her annoyed expression. 

In contrast to the rest of the room, Fred was conjuring paper cranes and making them fly in increasingly fast circles in midair; their bright colours blurring together slightly as they continued to zoom about. Several students kept glancing nervously at them, for it wasn’t uncommon for Fred to set the birds on fire if he was bored enough. Jeremy Croofer’s eyebrows still hadn’t grown back since he stood up suddenly and found himself surrounded by flaming birds as the Weasley twins sniggered at his terrified squawk. 

Of course, this had disturbed Hermione from her frantic studies and caused her to lecture Fred and George for a whole half an hour on the appropriate times to be messing about with magic; ie not when the rest of her entire academic life hinged on exams which she absolutely cannot be distracted from with the ridiculous antics of ridiculous children. 

George pointing out that she was being just as distracting as they were by berating them loudly in the common room and Fred’s advice that she try and be a little more considerate to the people studying for their life-changing exams gained them both withering looks and a muttered threat about the delicate places that an origami crane could be stuffed.

 

Fred considered Hermione for a while, idly flicking his wand to add another bird. While they weren’t exactly on bad terms, their tenuous friendship has been rocky since she had finally put a stop to their product testing. For all that she was straight-laced, she certainly didn’t pull her punches when it came to fighting for what she believed in. She needed to have a little more fun, that was all. If she wasn’t so stressed about her exams, she would be much more likely to let he and George get away with bending the rules.  
Well, at least a little more likely. 

Fred’s birds slowed suddenly, almost halting their movement entirely- much to the relief of Jeremy Croofer- as an idea crept into his head. It shouldn’t take too much organising, he and George had already been planning on doing something to Umbridge to make her life that much harder just before the exams. This way he can kill two birds with one stone.

Twitching his wand slightly, he made two of the cranes disappear with a smile slipping onto his face. As soon as George got back with their new shipment of magical herbs pilfered from the Greenhouses, which Fred is pretty sure Professor Sprout knows they’ve been stealing from but has turned a blind eye due to the havoc they’ve cause for everyone’s least favourite headmistress, they could begin working out the particulars. 

But it would involve three people rather than two, this time. After all, it’s not as if anyone could withstand Fred Weasley’s rakish charms for long.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘No.’

‘No what? You don't even know what I was going to say!’

Hermione gave Fred one of those glowers that lets you know just how much she resents the fact that she’s having this annoying conversation rather than being allowed to study in peace. ‘Anything involving you is invariably going to also involve trouble and I'm trying to study for my OWLs. Leave me alone, this DADA work needs concentration, which I can’t get when people like you insist on bothering me all the time.’

‘What if I told you it was a prank guaranteed to make Umbridge suffer?’ Hermione seemed to consider it, but then shrugged and went back to her studies.

Fred pouted a little, and leaned over to her side of the library table they were sharing to read her work, ignoring her pointed sigh as she tried to work around him. They sat without speaking for a while as Hermione worked, Fred watching her answer question after question almost without pause, until she reached one she really seemed to struggle with. Hermione’s scribbling became harsher as she wrestled with the problem on her parchment, and she almost scratched a line straight through the paper with her tenth unsuccessful attempt.

‘Need some help?’ Fred asked, his head now lying on Hermione’s shoulder as she studied.

Hermione looked at him incredulously. ‘You passed a grand totally of three OWL exams. I think I’m better qualified to answer this than you are.’

Fred shrugged with one shoulder and Hermione shook her head, turning back to the frustrating exercise for another five tries until- ‘I know where you went wrong.’ Fred said, who had been watching Hermione’s progress with a faint smile on his face.

‘What?’ Hermione said, throwing her quill down on the table and pulling the parchment towards her, eyes raking through the last few lines to try and find the mistake, dislodging Fred’s head from her shoulder as she did so. 

‘I could tell you if you like.’ Fred said, his mind suddenly whirring where it had been sleepily, and strangely, content only moments before. It had been very comfortable on that shoulder, he mused. He must have been more tired than he’d thought- maybe staying up all night losing at Wizard Chess to George hadn’t been his best plan yet. ‘I could tell you...for a price.’

Hermione groaned. ‘You couldn’t just tell me like a normal person?’ Fred grinned at her and she rolled her eyes, ‘No, of course you couldn’t. Just...hang on.’ She scanned the page again, then read through every line slowly, glaring at each word she had written as if she could get the answer through sheer force of will.

When she was eventually resigned to the fact that she couldn’t see the solution on her own, she turned back to Fred, who had been watching her with evident enjoyment of having the upper hand against her. 

‘Fine.’ She said gesturing for him to reveal all, ‘Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll help you out with your ill-advised, senseless prank.’

Fred gave a look of false offense, placing one hand over his heart. ‘When have my pranks ever been at all senseless? I’m shocked that anyone would even dare to insinuate that anything I do lacks advisability.’ Hermione’s lip twitched at that, although she still rolled her eyes.

Fred grinned widely at this small victory and moved his face close to hers. She blinked in shock and her gaze flickered to what he would think was his lips if this wasn’t Hermione Granger. He smirked and tapped the very top of the page, where she had written the original question.

‘You copied ‘Expulso’ as ‘Expilso’. I’ll talk to you later about your involvement in my ill-advised, senseless prank.’ 

With that, Fred stood and walked out of the library, snickering at Hermione’s impassioned ‘damn it’ as she checked her incorrect transcription and the ensuing shush from Madam Pince. He stayed smiling as he casually tripped one of the Inquisitorial Squad flat onto her face, and tried very hard not to think about how nice it had felt to have his face so very close to Hermione’s.

**Author's Note:**

> There is a much suckier version of this on Fanfiction.net. I decided to re-do it because, well, I was bored.  
> You can read the origional version here:  
> http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8510696/1/The-Plan
> 
> although I'd rather you didn't, because it's awful and, well, spoilers. Thanks for reading, please leave a comment or kudos to let me know what you thought of it.


End file.
